Imperial College London

2019-20 access and participation plan

Assessment of current performance Imperial College continues to make significant investment in work to widen

participation. We recognise, however, that progress in achieving access to the

College has been slower than we would have hoped, and we are now embarking on

a review of our Widening Participation activities and Admission policies to ensure that

they are designed to achieve the highest possible impact.

The College’s Access, Participation and Student Support Working Group

continues to monitor progress against a number of metrics. These include the

specific targets set as part of the Access and Participation Plan, the HESA

performance indicators, and local data on student performance (in absolute terms as

well as compared to benchmark) across a number of demographics which the

College has identified as priorities (gender, disability, ethnicity, school type, parental

education, POLAR3, bursary recipient, outreach beneficiary, region of student’s

home address, term time accommodation).

The percentages of students from various demographics is as follows:

Demographic 2016/17

Percentage

2016/17

Benchmark*

2016/17

Standard

Deviation

2015/16

Percentage

2014/15

Percentage

Entrants From State

Schools

63.5% 71.0% 1.1% 65.5% 64.8%

Entrants from Low

Participation

Neighbourhoods

4.1% 3.9% 0.71% 4.0% 3.9%

Black Students 2.8% - - 2.6% 2.8%

Mature Entrants 11.5% - - 10.0% 10.4%

Mature Entrants from

Low Participation

Neighbourhoods & No

previous HE

1.9% 3.2% 1.83% 3.6% 1.5%

Students in receipt of

DSA

4.1% 4.5% 0.30% 4.2% 4.8%**

Care Leavers 0.13% - - 0.04% 0.00%

Entrants from Low

Income (under £25,000

pa) Households

21.5% - - 23.6% 22.2%

*Location adjusted benchmarks have been used where available.

**The College had a data error for our 2014/15 student return which undercounted

the number of students in receipt of DSA.

In relation to the student lifecycle, we consider data on non-continuation, degree

completion and classification, and destinations of leavers for home undergraduates.

We consider the differences between home students from key demographics and the

whole home student cohort, and between students in receipt of bursaries and the

whole cohort. The analysis included looking at variation between POLAR quintile

groups, different ethnicities, disability statuses, genders, previous school types,

parental education and term time accommodation. Numbers of care leavers were

observed to be too low to allow meaningful analysis, and so no further analysis was

undertaken. Numbers of mature students include students on the Graduate Entry

programme to Medicine and on intercalated BScs, which are not included in our

analysis since they are atypical programmes. Once these student were removed, the

remaining number of mature students was observed to be too low to allow

meaningful analysis, and so no further analysis was undertaken. In relation to some

other key demographics, underrepresentation of the demographic in the cohort

means that the percentages represent very small numbers of students.

Notwithstanding this difficulty, our key findings are these:

Students with disabilities achieve consistently less favourable outcomes

than their cohorts across all measures.

Students of Black and Chinese ethnicity achieved lower rates of good

degrees and students of Chinese ethnicity also had higher rates of

unemployment than their cohorts.

Students in receipt of APP-countable bursaries had higher completion rates

but lower rates of good degrees than their cohorts.

We did not find any sustained or significant differences in the performance of

students from POLAR3 Quintiles 1 and 2 compared to their cohorts.

The analysis which underlies these key findings is as follows:

Disabled Students Proportion Percentage Point Difference

to Whole Cohort

Entrant Year 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17

Degree Non-Continuation (into 2nd year) 4.7% 2.2% 3.6% 1.6 -0.2 1.2

Entrant Year 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11

Degree Non-Completion (within 6 years) 15.4% 19.4% 19.4% 1.9 8.3 7.5

Entrant Year 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13

Good Degree Outcomes 94.9% 88.0% 73.7% 3.5 -2.8 -16.3

DLHE Survey 2014 2015 2016 2014 2015 2016

Unemployment Rate 7.4% 14.7% 15.5% -2.8 4.2 6.4

Black and Chinese Ethnicity

Home Students Proportion

Percentage Point Difference to Whole Cohort

Entrant Year 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13

Good Degree Outcomes (Black) 95.7% 87.5% 88.0% 4.2 -3.3 -2.0

Good Degree Outcomes (Chinese) 92.1% 85.9% 84.7% 0.7 -5.0 -5.3

DLHE Survey 2014 2015 2016 2014 2015 2016

Unemployment Rate (Chinese) 7.1% 15.9% 14.5% -3.1 5.3 5.4

Bursary Recipients Proportion

Percentage Point Difference to Whole Cohort

Entrant Year 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11

Degree Non-Completion (within 6 years) 5.9% 3.1% 7.6% -7.6 -8.0 -4.4

Entrant Year 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13

Good Degree Outcomes 90.9% 88.8% 87.1% -0.5 -2.0 -2.8

POLAR Q1 Proportion Percentage Point Difference

to Whole Cohort

Entrant Year 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17

Degree Non-Continuation (into 2nd year) 8.5% 2.0% 2.0% 5.5 -0.4 -0.4

Entrant Year 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11

Degree Non-Completion (within 6 years) 9.4% 4.8% 16.7% -4.1 -6.3 4.7

Entrant Year 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13

Good Degree Outcomes 88.2% 88.6% 83.7% -3.2 -2.3 -6.3

DLHE Survey 2014 2015 2016 2014 2015 2016

Unemployment Rate 8.3% 7.9% 10.0% -1.9 -2.6 0.9

POLAR Q2 Proportion

Percentage Point Difference to Whole Cohort

Entrant Year 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17

Degree Non-Continuation (into 2nd year) 0.0% 3.7% 6.0% -3.0 1.3 3.6

Entrant Year 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11

Degree Non-Completion (within 6 years) 15.0% 11.7% 14.0% 1.4 0.6 2.1

Entrant Year 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13

Good Degree Outcomes 88.3% 88.5% 97.5% -3.1 -2.3 7.6

DLHE Survey 2014 2015 2016 2014 2015 2016

Unemployment Rate 15.2% 9.4% 9.6% 4.9 -1.1 0.5

Ambition and strategy

Our Ambition - Summary

Our ambition for access and participation forms part of our new Learning and

Teaching Strategy as well as our Societal Engagement Framework, which places

particular emphasis on achieving diversity across a number of dimensions, including

those which form part of the widening participation agenda.

The Learning and Teaching Strategy states that “we will foster an inclusive and

diverse community where different backgrounds and cultures in staff and students

are cherished and celebrated, and their different cultural experiences and identities

are embraced in order to better prepare all students for an increasingly diverse and

complex future work environment. We will foster a culture that understands and

embodies the values of diversity and inclusivity, ensuring this is reflected in campus

life, in the curriculum, and in the application of knowledge to real-life problems in a

global context.”

Imperial has a diverse student community: half our students are from outside the UK

and we have over 140 different nationalities on campus. But we want to do more to

attract and support students from a broad range of backgrounds and to create a

more inclusive environment for all by being aware of the barriers faced by under-

represented groups.

Our Strategy - Summary

Our strategy has two major themes:

(1) to allow students from all backgrounds to benefit from the educational

opportunities offered by the College

(a) by addressing any shortcomings in our admissions policy and procedures;

(b) by working with schools to raise attainment particularly in the later years of

schooling; and

(c) by working with young people of mixed abilities, many of whom will not

come to the College themselves, in order to raise their aspirations by sharing

the wonder of what we do and increase their access to a broad range of

technical and soft skills training.

(2) to ensure that students from all backgrounds are able to thrive once they arrive by

creating a culture of Inclusive Excellence. Students are supported both to succeed at

the College and to progress into employment or further study.

We acknowledge that there is a reciprocal relationship between these two themes,

with students who receive an excellent learning experience at the College acting as

powerful ambassadors for the College in their home communities; and with greater

diversity in the classroom requiring us to work even harder to reduce and eliminate

learning gaps.

Based on our assessment of current performance, the College will prioritise the

access stage of the lifecycle for students of black ethnicity and for students from

POLAR quintiles 1 and 2, and the success and progression stages for students of

black and Chinese ethnicity. Our ambition will be to significantly increase the

numbers of students of black ethnicity and students from POLAR quintiles 1 and 2

admitted to the College; and to significantly reduce the attainment gaps for students

of black and Chinese ethnicity and from POLAR quintiles 1 and 2.

The College is currently undertaking an analysis of admissions data in order to

understand whether implicit bias in admissions adversely affects applicants from

certain backgrounds, and in particular whether admissions processes play a role in

the under-representation of students of black ethnicity and from POLAR quintiles 1

and 2. Once completed, we will publish the findings of this research, and design and

implement interventions where a statistically significant effect is found.

Our Strategy – Raising Attainment

The College has long recognised school-leaver attainment as a limiting factor for

widening access, particularly in STEM. The focus of the College’s portfolio of

Outreach programmes has increasingly been on raising attainment. Our work with

schools convinces us that the most effective ways in which we can help to raise

attainment in STEM subjects are by working alongside schools and teachers to

provide curricular enrichment activities and STEM coaching; and to be active in

training STEM teachers, principally through offering opportunities for CPD, but also

by providing the opportunity for our own students to obtain a PGCE through the

INSPIRE scheme.

We have listened carefully to the arguments in favour of University sponsorship of

schools, and have undertaken visits to the University of Birmingham School and the

King’s College London Mathematics School. Whilst impressed by the range of links

which exist between the two universities and their respective schools, we have not

been persuaded that any of these value-adding activities were possible only or

primarily because of the sponsorship relationship. Within our own context in the

London Boroughs of Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, and Hammersmith and

Fulham, we do not experience any difficulty in accessing schools for the purposes of

attainment raising activities, and we do not consider that establishing a formal

relationship with one of our local schools – or indeed setting up a new school – would

enhance our ability to work alongside students to improve STEM attainment.

A number of the initiatives described below (‘measures’) such as the Pimlico

Connection, Pathways to Medicine and #mA*ths are particularly aimed at raising

attainment at GCSE and A level in our local schools.

The College does not usually target activities at low participation neighbourhoods

because this measure does not look at individual disadvantage and is too blunt to be

helpful in targeting activities in London, which is densely populated and has

heterogeneous neighbourhoods and areas with rapidly shifting demographics. For

example, HEFCE research has shown that while in London there is a greater

proportion of income-deprived children than anywhere else in the country (45%), only

4% of the young population live in wards which are in the lowest young participation

quintile. This suggests that targeting activities only at low participation

neighbourhoods in London would risk missing very substantial numbers of individuals

from disadvantaged backgrounds. The College therefore takes a more nuanced

approach to targeting outreach activity. For activities aimed at individuals,

participants are selected based on a range of criteria which measure individual

disadvantage. For activities aimed at schools, schools are identified as

disadvantaged based on examination performance and/or the proportion of pupils in

receipt of free school meals. An analysis of the background characteristics of

outreach participants who went on to enter the College has shown that they were

substantially more likely to come from groups that are under-represented in higher

education compared to the overall College Home undergraduate population,

indicating that the College’s approach to targeting its outreach activities has been

successful in reaching those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Our Strategy – Raising Aspiration – Sharing the Wonder

A key pillar of the College’s overall strategy for 2015-2020 is that we should ‘share

the wonder’ of what we do. The strategy states:

“We are committed to inspiring the scientists, engineers and medical professionals of

the future by raising aspirations and supporting learning across all age groups.

Through harnessing the creativity and passion of Imperial’s people and engaging

with our partners, we will create further opportunities to nurture the innate curiosity

and desire to learn in the public and young people. Our actions will support a

continued flow of diverse and talented students from across the world into the

College, promote public engagement with science, and help our university to be

sensitive to the interests and needs of the public and our local communities.

We will create shared spaces for discovery and learning by working with schools and local communities.

We will use digital technology to ensure that our research and education reaches a wide and varied audience.

We will expand our reach to prospective students nationally and globally to inspire and attract the brightest students, regardless of their backgrounds.

We will create a broad and collaborative outreach learning experience focused on global challenges and opportunities in science, engineering, and medicine.

We will engage with and learn from the public, schools and local communities to improve our interactions with them.

We will continue to deliver a wide range of events and activities for the public such as our annual festival and public lectures”

Activities under the ‘share the wonder’ theme are not designed with the specific

objective of generating applications to Imperial College, and we do not measure the

success of this activity by the number of participants who come to study at the

College.

Our Strategy – Inclusive Excellence

Through the transformation of our pedagogy as envisaged by our Learning and

Teaching Strategy, we will create an environment of Inclusive Excellence.

A positive climate in classrooms and on-campus, alongside interactive teaching, can

improve students’ persistence in learning, their academic and emotional

development, and their future professional engagement.

Bias in academic environments can lead to students underperforming and being less

visible and less actively engaged. For instance, bias against women in engineering

leads to them taking on lesser roles in group work and even being discouraged from

pursuing a career in the field. Similar effects have been documented for black and

minority ethnic students and for first generation students. Our new Learning and

Teaching Strategy will encourage teaching staff to become aware of their own

unconscious biases, for instance towards women and minorities in STEM, and we

will provide staff and students with the tools to minimise the effects. We will identify

the barriers faced by underrepresented student groups by commissioning social

science research and giving all student groups a voice. We will develop institutional

measures and policies and will align this work to our evolving programme of work in

widening participation and in equality, diversity and inclusion College-wide.

Making our learning and teaching more inclusive means:

Creating equal opportunities for our students to succeed, regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, cultural and socio-economic background or disability;

Recognising and harnessing our students’ diverse cultural backgrounds, identities and experiences by creating opportunities for them to learn from each other and to make their different backgrounds an asset;

Facilitating all students’ sense of personal and professional identity and sense of belonging within a field, so that their background can contribute to their success;

Designing a diverse range of teaching, learning and assessment approaches that recognise and support the needs of students both as individuals and as members of a learning community;

Removing barriers to learning and creating a more equitable experience to assist all students, regardless of health issues or language support needs;

Counterbalancing the effects of unconscious bias in individuals and in institutional structures through creating and implementing evidence based policies;

Using lecture capture and captioning, as well as making comprehensive lecture notes available in advance.

When applied well and sensitively, interactive teaching can counterbalance some of

the negative effects of being part of an underrepresented minority, including for

students with disabilities (Sharpe et al., 2006). The use of more active learning, for

example group-based learning, can initially be challenging for students. There may

be particular initial difficulties for those who are introverted, lack confidence or are

culturally trained not to speak up in class, however structured approaches to

interactive and group learning can help all students to feel included.

Culturally mixed team-working will be incorporated to enable students to practise

intercultural communication and collaboration and to build a sense of community

amongst the cohort. When considering how best to construct diverse teams, we will

also take active steps to combat the potential effects of stereotyping and implicit bias

that can be an issue in group work.

When reviewing and redesigning curricula, an appreciation of the differences in

background and in the personal and professional identity of our students will be

central to our approach. We will design more inclusive curricula to recognise that

diversity in backgrounds and cultural perspectives can be an asset in teaching that

involves application of concepts to real-life situations. Ensuring that all of our

students are seen and heard, this work will be undertaken in partnership with

students and teaching assistants from a broad range of backgrounds.

Improving support available for disabled students is one of our early key strategic

priorities, and our initiatives in this area are described under ‘Measures’ below.

Our Strategy – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

The College’s strategy for Access and Participation, described above, cannot be

considered separately from our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)

as a whole.

In the past year the College has significantly bolstered its commitment to integrating

equality, diversity and inclusion in all its operations. It has created a new role of

Assistant Provost (EDI), who sits on a new EDI Strategy Group, chaired by the

Provost, and created an EDI Forum, chaired by the new Assistant Provost (EDI).

Together, these new committees oversee equality and diversity activity across the

College and are dedicated to promoting and embedding all aspects of equality

throughout the College community. The strategy group has deliberately been kept

small and high-level to give it executive agility. It is informed in its deliberations by the

Forum, membership of which includes representatives from across all academic and

professional services departments, the students’ union called the Imperial College

Union (the Union), the Trades Unions, and the College’s equality advisory groups for

race, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity equality. The Forum is a broad-

based ‘listening post’ that is empowered to formulate and present proposals to the

Strategy Group. Together the Strategy Group and the Forum place a strong

emphasis on monitoring services, making recommendations for additional actions

(many of which are then owned by the relevant operational functions in the College)

and evaluating success and progress in addressing the needs of staff and students.

A major preoccupation at present is to formulate the College’s first EDI Strategy,

which will be published following wide consultation later this year. However, we are

already moving forward on a number of initiatives. Imperial is now a member of the

ECU’s Race Equality Charter and will be applying for a full award within the next two

years. We have also begun a root-and-branch overhaul of policies and procedures

around sexual harassment, recognising the need to build more credible and

responsible mechanisms for dealing with unacceptable behaviours.

Our Strategy – Partnership with Imperial College Union

The College continues to work in close partnership with Imperial College Union in the

development of its Access and Participation Plan and in the development of strategy

more generally. Both shaping and responding to the College’s new Learning and

Teaching, Societal Engagement and EDI strategies, the Union has prioritised the

development of the roles of Liberation & Community Officers, which have traditionally

had a lower profile at Imperial than at some other institutions.

The eight Liberation & Community Officers are the voices of underrepresented

groups and ethical causes at Imperial. Elected by the entire student body, they lead

on campaigning, lobbying and policy change within the Union and the wider Imperial

community to ensure that all members have a fair and equitable experience. The

officers are:

The Black & Minority Ethnic (BME) Officer

The Disabilities Officer

The Ethics & Environment Officer

The Gender Equality Officer

The Interfaith Officer

The International Officer

The LGBT+ Officer

The Mental Health Officer

The Access, Participation and Student Success Working Group (see Our Strategy – Monitoring the delivery of the plan) has representation from two officers of the

Imperial College Union. All members of the group have an equal opportunity to comment on and shape the APP prior to it being submitted. Having consulted with the Union we propose to meet with the Union’s Liberation & Community Officers to seek their input on the plan and its delivery.

In addition the College’s new Learning and Teaching (L&T) Strategy, which includes our ambitions around access and participation, was developed through a consultative process with staff and students. The College and Imperial College Union worked in partnership in forming and writing the strategy. This included, for example, incorporating recommendations from the Union’s 2015 and 2016 NSS Responses, working with the Union on the College-wide strategy consultation, and the Union President and Deputy President (Education) playing a full role alongside the Vice Provost (Education) in drafting the final document.

Students are also engaged in a number of ways in the implementation of the L&T strategy; we strongly advocate students as partners. For example, we have a Framework for Student Engagement with Curriculum Review; all bids for funding to support Pedagogy Transformation are expected to demonstrate how they will engage students as partners in their approach; and, for specific L&T strategy programmes, students will be supported to engage with a broad range of activities in support of the implementation of the strategy, including the evaluation of the impact of these changes. Inclusivity is built into our approach to Curriculum Review and Pedagogy Transformation, and our Framework for Student Engagement makes it clear that departments should engage with the whole student community, beyond the elected academic representatives.

In addition, following a pilot, the College has established a graduate intern role to act as the formal link between the College’s outreach team and the Union to aid collaboration and alignment further. This will be a 9 month contract to ensure new graduates can take part and to keep the student voice active. We also employ a large number of undergraduate mentors who contribute constantly to our curriculum-based work in the Wohl Reach Out Lab (WROL). They provide role models for both their subjects and for higher education and provide regular feedback to us. Many of our mentors are now students who have come through our access programmes. They want to take part and to share their experiences as a participant as well as a student mentor. We greatly value their input and feedback, for example, to assist in delivering the desired outcomes for our planned programmes.

A statement of support from the Union is included within our submission for OfS registration.

Our Strategy – Evaluation

The College has an evaluation framework covering all Access programmes stating our aims and objectives, target audiences and broad measures of success. It is reviewed annually to ensure our criteria continue to be appropriate and that we have reflected on feedback. The framework also links to the specific targets identified in our access and participation plan. There are two key methodologies to help us understand our ambitions and goals:

Continuous monitoring - the systematic collecting and analysing of information, data and feedback on our programmes and activities. This includes pupil post-activity evaluation, pre and post programme evaluation, teacher feedback, final destination tracking, participants’ entry surveys and analysis of admissions data. It is used to:

Assess our activities against aims, objectives, and APP targets

Learn lessons and make informed improvements to programmes

Original research and investigation - more in-depth study, literature reviews and analysis of other external research by our practitioners and two PhD students. It is used to:

Understand whether activities ‘work’

Understand why certain types of activities ‘work’

Explore impacts and effects upon both audiences and practitioners

As a research-led university, for several years we have appointed PhD students to

provide robust academic research on specific outreach programmes. Presently we

have two researchers: one is focusing specifically on access to medicine and the

barriers that exist; the other is looking at teaching styles and pedagogy in STEM,

using the College’s Wohl Reach Out Lab as an exemplar for curriculum-led outreach

programmes. These students are located within the Faculty of Medicine and our

central outreach team respectively so that they can influence practitioners directly.

The aim is that they will publish articles and papers to disseminate findings across

the sector.

As outlined above, we have an evidence led approach to our activities. In 2014, we

undertook a holistic evidence-led review of all our access initiatives, resulting in a

fundamental change to a cohort-based model for core outreach programmes rather

than one-off sessions. Having previously found that multiple interventions resulted in

more successful outcomes for medical outreach programmes (“Opening doors and

minds: a path for widening access” Smith, Alexander, Dubb, Murphy and Laycock

(2013) The Clinical Teacher, Apr 10(2):124-8) we knew that providing a structured

cohort over 2-4 years was the best way of ensuring the pupils would be better placed

to reach their potential. This evidence-led approach allowed us to form STEM

Potential (the flagship STEM-focused programme for Year 10 to Year 13 pupils) and

Pathways to Medicine (Year 11 to Year 13 medical outreach programme). Whilst

one-off interventions are useful for inspiring students and setting the scene, multiple

interventions resulted in more advantageous outcomes for students from

disadvantaged backgrounds. We continue to use an evidence-led approach to define

our strategy: through the research currently being carried out by our PhD students;

by conducting focus groups with teachers; and by maintaining an intensive

partnership with Westminster Academy School to develop curricular activities and

approaches for improving attainment. This all feeds into our STEM cohort

programmes.

In addition, our ambition for access and participation forms part of our new Learning

and Teaching Strategy, with a focus on diversity and inclusivity. The implementation

of the strategy will be evidence led and used for continuous improvement both within

the College and across the sector. For example, “As we innovate our teaching

methods, we will evaluate the impact and effectiveness of our learning and teaching

on the staff and the student experience, and on our students’ study success and

learning gains, to form our own evidence base, publish our results in peer reviewed

journals and contribute to the ‘second generation’ of global evidence on interactive

teaching.”

Details of the evaluation of financial support is included in the financial support section.

Our Strategy – Monitoring the delivery of the plan

The Access, Participation and Student Support Working Group (APSSWG) is

responsible for the development, delivery and monitoring of the College’s Access and

Participation Plan, including the financial support package. The APSSWG is chaired

by the Director of Strategic Planning and has representation from key stakeholders

from across the College, including two elected officers from the students’ union: the

President and Deputy President (Welfare).

The APSSWG reports annually to the Provost’s Board for approval of the APP. The

Chair of the working group also raises items in relation to the APP, and associated

widening participation strategy, with the Provost’s Board, as needed.

The Provost’s Board is responsible for the delivery of the College’s core academic

mission: education, research and translation. This includes oversight of the quality

and efficacy of education and research; recruitment, development and retention of

academic and research staff; and student life and well-being. It also has

responsibility for delegated budgets and their financial control.

The Learning and Teaching Committee is responsible for the oversight of the

College’s new Learning and Teaching Strategy, which includes our ambitions around

access and participation, and reports to Senate. Students are represented on the

Learning and Teaching Committee by the ICU Deputy President (Education). The

Vice Provost (Education) chairs the committee and reports monthly to Provost’s

Board.

Access, student success and progression measures

Student Outreach – Raising Aspirations and Attainment

The College’s current outreach programmes reach a significant number of

disadvantaged school children, being strengthened by established relationships with

a network of over 300 schools and colleges in London and the South East that meet

specific widening participation criteria. These programmes include sustained

collaborative outreach, for example summer schools, mentoring/tutoring, academic

enrichment programmes, access to university facilities and collaborative

partnerships.

The Pimlico Connection is a long-standing voluntary tutoring scheme (started in

1975) in which College undergraduate and postgraduate students participate in

weekly sessions at a local primary or secondary school to engage in tutoring and

mentoring in science to address barriers to attainment that their teachers have

identified. The scheme also serves to raise aspirations by providing positive role

models for both STEM and higher education in the classroom on a regular basis. In

October 2015, the Pimlico Connection made a formal collaboration with the Union,

with the aim of increasing the reach of the scheme both in terms of the numbers of

student volunteers and the schools in which they work. By linking with the Union,

students who engage on the programme are able to take part in Imperial Plus- a

volunteering reward scheme that is run by the Union.

The Wohl Reach Out Lab (WROL) was opened in 2010 on the College’s South

Kensington campus to provide additional facilities to deliver practical programmes

and an experience of university for pupils aged six to eighteen, specifically from

schools without ready access to laboratories. The WROL provides an inspirational

venue for the College’s cohort-based outreach programmes (as well as for training

PGCE students), for providing STEM-dedicated continuing professional development

for teachers, and for encouraging younger audiences to participate in hands-on

STEM learning. The College recruits and trains current postgraduate students and

academic staff to act as academic leaders in outreach interventions, developing

hands-on activities based on their research to inspire and educate pupils and science

teachers. The WROL also provides a unique and dedicated space to focus attention

on raising attainment through specific master-classes, revision sessions and practical

science classes. Some classes are developed alongside teachers to cover elements

of the national curriculum, particularly exposing pupils to practical experiments that

may not be available in their schools. Feedback from teachers is important in

determining whether the sessions have aided pupils’ understanding. These sessions

are also critical when working with Year 12 and Year 13 students on cohort

programmes who need to reach the A/A* mark in key subjects. The College is

committed through its access targets (see the resource plan) to at least maintaining

the number of participant days in practical science activities delivered to pupils and

teachers from disadvantaged schools at 4,000, which is the estimated capacity of the

lab over an academic year.

The College has identified that pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely

to match or improve their GCSE mathematics grade at A-level in comparison to the

national average. This is a strong limiting factor in their progression to selective

universities in STEM subjects. The focus of the College’s future work on attainment,

therefore, will be to design and test a novel suite of digital tools that could address

this issue across multiple schools. Intelligence gained through this innovative activity

would be shared to inform the future development of cohort programmes at the

College and beyond. One initial approach will be to develop a more sophisticated

method of providing both face-to-face and on-line support for these disadvantaged

groups via the College’s new #mA*ths programme. This will be informed by a pilot

programme focusing on raising attainment in Maths with Year 12 students from

schools in the White City area of London. The purpose of the programme is to help

pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds bridge the A/A* gap and also to provide

support for the Maths and Further Maths curriculum with a broader context to how

mathematical principles fit into the physics and chemistry A-level curriculum. As the

programme is currently being piloted, there are no data yet for impact analysis but we

envisage this will come through when the first cohort sit their A-level exams.

The College’s Reaching Further programme places early career researchers in

schools to support teachers in the key STEM subjects (specifically teachers teaching

out of their specialism) by providing hands-on curriculum support, linked to modern

and exciting research themes. The programme is continuing to evolve successfully

and now focussing attention on supporting progress at GCSE and A-level where

possible, for example by developing imaginative solutions to overcome learning

barriers that have been identified by teachers. The researchers provide critical in-

school support that is disseminated to other schools through a hub and spoke model

of interaction.

The College is continuing to develop its flagship STEM Potential programme

focusing on taking pupils from Year 10 to Year 13 through a series of interventions

aimed at raising attainment in STEM subjects at GCSE and A-level. There are

approximately 400 students on cohort programmes at any one time with at least 180

students in Years 12 and 13 of STEM Potential. By recruiting pupils at the Year 10

stage, the programme aims to identify talented cohorts of pupils from disadvantaged

backgrounds who can then be given tailored subject-specific and soft-skill support

through the key milestones that they face. There is also an additional entry point at

Year 12. The sixth-form element of the STEM Potential programme is intensive and

curriculum based. It enhances pupils’ understanding of difficult concepts at A Level

through personalised teaching with mentors and innovative use of practicals. By

working closely with teachers at the targeted schools, the programme aims to retain

pupils across the two or four years and provide sufficient contact with participants for

information on their post-school destinations to be requested. This programme is

linked in to the Widening Participation Schools Visits Programme so that further in-

school support is provided where it is most needed.

The Pathways to Medicine programme, which is supported by the Sutton Trust,

Health Education England, and the Royal Society of Medicine has just received a

further three-year funding extension to build on the work and successes that it has

achieved since its inception in 2014. Pathways to Medicine is a long-term, cohort-

based programme that runs a series of activities for each cohort over a three-year

period from Year 11 through to Year 13 to help pupils make strong and informed

applications to study medicine at university. Activities include informative talks by

admissions tutors and medical students, e-mentoring with current Imperial medics, a

subject and skills-based summer school at the College, personal statement advice,

and guaranteed work experience placements in a healthcare setting. Furthermore,

master-classes and subject revision sessions are held termly to ensure the

participants are on track to achieve the grades they need to meet offers. The College

works closely with Vision, an Imperial student-run medical society which aims to

widen participation in medicine and was initially set up through a collaboration with

the Outreach team and the student body within the Faculty of Medicine. The

synergistic collaboration between the School of Medicine, the Outreach Office (which

has a dedicated Medical Outreach Officer) and Vision has significantly increased the

impact of the College’s medicine outreach activities. This is particularly noticeable,

not only in the Pathways to Medicine programme, but also in extended admissions

events delivered at a hub school to multiple local schools, which make highly

effective use of staff and student time.

The College also provides extensive support for medical students during the

application process and once they are studying. Admissions tutors take into account

contextual information when deciding which applicants to invite to interview. Each

student has a personal tutor with whom regular meetings are timetabled, and is also

paired with a student in the year above who provides advice and support. Every year

group has a senior tutor who supports the personal tutors and helps students who

have more complex problems. The Imperial College School of Medicine Students’

Union (ICSMSU) also has a dedicated welfare officer. Academic support is provided

through the Faculty Education Office, while financial support is provided through the

College’s bursary scheme and through the availability of hardship funding.

The INSPIRE PGCE is an intensive, ten-month PGCE training programme which has

been running for over ten years in collaboration with Canterbury Christ Church

University. INSPIRE is designed to bridge the gap between STEM research and

school science and mathematics by recruiting able researchers who are good

communicators. As well as gaining a PGCE teaching qualification, our trainee

teachers get involved in a range of outreach activities which they develop with

support from academic supervisors at Imperial College London.

The College has opened a brand new outreach space in White City – the Invention

Rooms. This houses the Reach Out Maker Space which is an additional and highly

technical new outreach facility for the Outreach team to develop hands-on

programmes for different progression routes by exposure to a broad range of design

and making techniques and facilities. It offers training not only in technical skills, but

also business and soft skills for children of very mixed ability, all of which will

contribute to narrowing the skills gap. Through a collaboration with some external

funding bodies, the College has been able to boost its spend to run such

programmes for a wider audience of pupils with very mixed abilities and run

showcase events that bring in their parents, siblings and the local community.

A new Schools Governors’ Network has been established this academic year to

encourage current academic and professional staff at the College to engage with

local schools as governors. Staff who are currently school governors attend termly

lunch-time meetings to share best practice and their knowledge and understanding of

current issues in schools. It is envisaged that this network will grow as more staff are

encouraged to join schools as governors.

The College engages in a wide range of strategic collaborations with organisations

across different sectors to deliver its wide and varied outreach programme. In line

with the College’s overall outreach strategy, particular focus is given to STEM-based

outreach collaborations which draw on the College’s key strengths in STEM

education and research. For example, the College is part of the Russell Group

Advancing Access collaboration, which has received funding from the HEFCE

National Networks for Collaborative Outreach programme. Advancing Access works

together with schools and colleges to develop and deliver continuing professional

development (CPD) for teachers and advisers who support student progression to

selective universities and courses. It has a particular focus on schools and colleges

with low levels of progression to such universities. As part of its work, Advancing

Access runs conferences for teachers in locations in the north and south of England,

and also delivers the majority of CPD events and resources online to allow easy

access for all schools, regardless of their location. The College has sent

representatives to these conferences to share expertise and demystify the process of

applying to Russell Group institutions. This collaboration has been particularly

important in enabling the College to extend the geographical reach of its outreach

activities into areas outside London and the south-east.

Student Success – Inclusive Excellence

As described above, the College has a holistic approach to inclusion through its new

Learning and Teaching and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategies. Measures

described in this section relate particularly to our early actions around disability and

mental health, and to our actions in relation to progression to work and further study.

The College has put in place measures to support disabled students following the

changes to Disabled Students’ Allowance implemented from 2016-17 which takes an

inclusive and innovative approach, including: introducing a central fund managed by

the Disability Advisory Service (DAS) to support disabled students; increasing the

provision of assistive technology; and developing further its inclusive teaching and

learning practices so that they fully utilise lecture capture and other technologies.

The College has made a significant additional investment in supporting students with

specific learning difficulties (SpLDs) and students with mental health problems. The

College provides an extensive range of support for students with SpLDs, including:

advice and support during the assessment process; providing specialist study skill

sessions with a tutor trained in SpLDs; providing longer book loans; facilitating

additional examination arrangements; and providing an assistive technology room.

A full-time Mental Health Adviser is responsible for improving the co-ordination,

consistency and accessibility of support for students and to work with students

across the whole spectrum of mental health difficulties, helping them to obtain

appropriate treatment, support and adjustments to enable them to successfully

complete their studies. Additional funding has also been put in place to support

students with mental health difficulties with specialist study mentoring. The College’s

Mental Health Steering Group has been established to conduct an overview of

provisions to support mental health and wellbeing for staff and students, to review

best practice, to make recommendations on the best configuration of services and

support for mental health, and to make recommendations for ways to increase

awareness of mental health support within the College. This builds on the work done

since the College signed the Time to Change pledge in 2014. Mental Health First Aid

Training, introduced by the College in 2013, continues to train staff and students in

providing help to someone experiencing a mental health problem before professional

help is obtained.

The College continues to monitor levels of student satisfaction with its support

services, both using student surveys and through local feedback mechanisms, in

order to inform the future development of its services. In the last year, a Director of

Student Services, a new senior level post, has been recruited in order to deliver a

stronger, more coherent and consistent range of services to meet students’ needs

better, working in partnership with students.

Progression

The College’s Careers Service provides a comprehensive information, advice and

guidance service to all students to enable them to make informed career choices.

Students can arrange one-on-one appointments for advice on all aspects of career

planning, further study, and job-hunting skills, including finding potential employers,

writing a CV, completing application forms, interview skills, and assessment centres.

The Careers Service also organises sector-specific careers fairs, industry forums,

lunchtime careers talks and longer skills sessions all delivered by employers as well

as managing the extensive annual employer presentation programme. Each

academic department has a designated member of staff with responsibility for

careers activity, and the Careers Service works closely with these departmental

advisers to ensure an appropriate programme of activities for all year groups,

including seminars and workshops tailored for individual disciplines and a schedule

of one-to-one appointments with Careers Consultants and Placements and

Internships Advisers delivered in the department.

Students are encouraged to participate fully in skills development throughout their

courses, for example through the Imperial Horizons programme1 as well as the many

extra-curricular activities, such as the Enterprise Lab2, and volunteering opportunities

available. In addition to this, the Careers Service runs a central programme of

workshops and seminars to assist students in recognising their skills and personal

development. Some courses offer work placements and all students are encouraged

to seek summer internships with the help of the Careers Service.

1 Imperial Horizons, offers wide-ranging and innovative courses to undergraduate students designed to broaden their education, inspire their creativity, and enhance their professional impact: http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/horizons 2 The Enterprise Lab, opened in 2016, provides a central drop-in location for students to develop their

entrepreneurial skills and ideas with access to a community of expert advice and input: http://www.imperial.ac.uk/enterprise/enterprise-lab/

As well as the inclusive activities described above, the Careers Service also runs

specific targeted activities where there is a clear rationale for this. For example, the

Careers Service runs an alumni/student mentoring scheme with the aim of

developing student confidence and job sector knowledge which prioritises students

from disadvantaged backgrounds. In 2017-18, 83% of students matched on the

mentoring scheme met at least one of the College’s criteria for disadvantage. The

scheme is currently being evaluated through a feedback survey. The Careers Service

runs a work shadow scheme targeted specifically at first year students from

disadvantaged backgrounds, enabling students to spend between 1 and 3 days in

the workplace. Spending time in a workplace allows these students to experience the

realities of a professional environment within a certain industry and provides them the

opportunity to question and learn from professionals to help inform their career plans

which they may not yet have had the opportunity to experience. In Spring 2018, 66

students are expected to take part in the programme, with a further 100 in the

Summer. Sponsors for Educational Opportunity run an annual seminar targeted at

BAME students to highlight opportunity and support transition into positive graduate

outcomes. This year, the Careers Service has worked with the College’s Outreach

team to provide a dedicated Careers session at the College’s summer schools

(including the Sutton Trust Summer School).

The Careers Service also works to support disabled students to enter graduate

careers, and has a team member with specific expertise in this area who liaises

closely with the College’s Disability Advisory Service (DAS). The DAS run in-house

training sessions for Career Service staff to help accelerate the referral process for

students on the autistic spectrum to access direct careers interventions. Each year

the Careers Service runs an Access to Work Day specifically for disabled students in

collaboration with employers and with the London School of Economics (LSE). The

Careers Service monitors and evaluates the impact of its activities through

mechanisms such as analysis of the results of the annual Destinations of Leavers

from Higher Education (DLHE) survey, benchmarking against institutions with similar

profiles, and feedback from students and employers. Actions taken in response

include, for example, the introduction of themed careers weeks focused on more

unusual fields such as science communication.

The Careers Service shares good practice through a number of mechanisms,

including hosting staff from other universities for a day or a week, and contributing to

sector conferences and consultations. All careers consultants are professionally

qualified or working towards a professional qualification, and the Careers Service is a

member of the Association of Graduate Recruiters and the Association of Graduate

Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS). The College’s Careers Service Director

currently sits on AGCAS Social Mobility Working Group.

Student Financial Support

Targeted financial support is integral to access and student success at the College.

Its key purpose is to enable capable prospective students, regardless of their

financial circumstances, to apply to, study at, and succeed at the College. This is

particularly important given the higher costs of London, and is compounded by the

College’s relatively longer STEM courses.

Each year, the College carries out extensive evaluation of the success of its financial

support package across the whole student lifecycle (access, success and

progression). This takes into account sector research, internal data analysis, and

two of the three elements of the financial support evaluation toolkit developed by the

OFFA-commissioned project to understand the impact of institutional financial

support: the financial support statistical evaluation model and the financial support

survey. The statistical model was used for the first time in 2017-18. The College will

use the third element, the interview tool, in 2018-19, hence going forwards our

annual evaluation of financial support will use all three elements of the toolkit.

In relation to access, an analysis of the profile of the College’s bursary recipients is

carried out annually. The results of this analysis have indicated that being a College

bursary recipient (and hence from a lower income background) correlates with other

indicators of under-representation in higher education, including not having a parent

with a higher education qualification, and coming from a lower participation

neighbourhood. This suggests that the College’s financial support package is being

closely targeted at those groups that are disadvantaged in terms of accessing higher

education. The College also explores the impact of financial support on students’

decision-making processes pre-entry through its annual survey of current bursary

recipients, run in collaboration with Union. The College’s 2018 survey was updated

following consideration of the financial support survey developed by the OFFA-

commissioned project. The College and the Union receive the outcomes from the

survey. The Union prepares a response to the survey with recommendations which

is shared with the Access, Participation and Student Success Working Group and

subsequently published by the Union.

A key finding from the survey was that financial support continues to be necessary to

cover the costs of living and studying in London; for those students from household

incomes of up to £42.8K (termed APP-countable), almost 75% said that it was

essential and 98% reported that it was at least helpful. Also, nearly 70% stated that

knowledge of the bursary scheme was an important factor in considering whether to

come to the College.

The College also undertakes evaluation of its financial support package in relation to

student success and progression. The College has used the OFFA financial support

evaluation model to compare OFFA-countable bursary holders with non-bursary

holders for five outcome measures:

For 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 new entrants:

a) Non-continuation into a second year of study following year of entry

For 2010-11 entrants:

b) Non-completion of degree within five years of entry

c) Attainment of a “good” degree (1st or 2:1)

d) Attainment of a first class degree

e) Positive destination outcome (graduate employment or further study)

The results showed that were no significant differences in outcomes between the two

groups for these outcomes (with the exception of continuation into second year for

2013-14 entrants). The OFFA guidance outlined three possible outcomes from the

analysis and this most closely aligns to “Result 2: Bursary holders have the same

outcomes as the comparison group (i.e. no significant differences). In this case

bursaries could be considered as effective (assuming that financial disadvantage has

a negative impact on educational outcomes).” Hence, the College’s financial support

package is effective and having a positive impact. This outcome was taken into

account when deciding to maintain the College’s 2019-20 bursary at 2018-19 levels.

We expect this analysis to be undertaken annually, in addition to the bursary

recipient survey, and for it to continue to contribute to the setting of the College’s

financial support package.

The College has also considered the findings of the evaluation work undertaken by

other institutions in relation to the role of bursaries in supporting student success. For

example, research by the University of Lancaster found that bursaries negated the

effect of social class on the probability of drop-out3, and research from the University

of Bristol found that students in receipt of bursaries were substantially less likely to

report financial constraints on their extra-curricular activities and only half as likely

both to consider withdrawing in general, and to do so specifically for financial

reasons, compared to students with only slightly higher household incomes who were

not eligible for bursaries4. The annual survey of the College’s bursary recipients

confirmed that the College’s financial support is helping recipients (from household

income bands up to £42.8K) to meet the costs of living and studying in London.

The College’s financial support package (illustrated in the table below) will provide

up-front cash support to students from lower income backgrounds with the aim of

enabling disadvantaged students to meet the difference between government

maintenance support and the cost of living and studying in London. Student feedback

is taken into account in the design of the package. The package will pertain to eligible

Home students entering the College from 2019-20 for each year of their study at the

3 http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/staff/diggle/bursaries.pdf 4 Student funding, student retention and student experiences: perspectives from Bristol”, Hoare, Tony and Lightfoot, Jon, Journal of Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning (Volume 17, October 2015),

page 121.

College (clinical medical students, normally in their fifth and sixth years of study, will

not be eligible because they receive an NHS bursary).

Household

income

Total

support

Up to £16K £5,000

£16K - £42.8K £4,000

The College is committed through its access targets (see the resource plan) to

providing timely, clear and accessible information to prospective applicants so that

the best prospective students from disadvantaged groups are encouraged to apply to

the College. It is, therefore, necessary to ensure an appropriate awareness amongst

school children of the financial support available before they apply. Information and

advice will continue to be provided through the College’s outreach programme,

prospectus, website and other materials.

The College will provide timely, accurate information to UCAS (for courses that

receive applications through UCAS) and to the Student Loans Company (SLC) so

that they can populate their course databases in good time to inform applications.

Investment

We will make the following investments in Widening Participation

Activity £ From additional fee

income

% additional fee

income

Other investment*

Access 870,000 4 880,000

Success 0 0 650,000

Progression 0 0 Not available

Financial Support 6,722,229 31 0

TOTAL 7,592,229 35 1,530,000

* The figure for student success reflects the investment in services directly targeted

at disabled students only, so this will under estimate the total amount invested in

services which disabled students access. We are unable to disaggregate our

investment for WP students further for success or progression activity.

Provision of information to students

We give details of the Financial Support Package available to students in the College

Prospectus.

The College website provides information to applicants and new entrants at

http://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/ug/fees-and-funding/ and for continuing students at

http://www.imperial.ac.uk/students/fees-and-funding/undergraduate-funding/

The College Access and Participation Plan will be published on the section on the

website aimed at undergraduate applicants.

Full-time course type: Additional information: Course fee:

First degree £9,250

Foundation degree *

Foundation year / Year 0 *

HNC / HND *

CertHE / DipHE *

Postgraduate ITT *

Accelerated degree *

Sandwich year Faculty of Engineering £925

Sandwich year Faculty of Natural Sciences £1,850

Erasmus and overseas study years £1,385

Other *

Franchise full-time course type: Additional information: Course fee:

First degree *

Foundation degree *

Foundation year / Year 0 *

HNC / HND *

CertHE / DipHE *

Postgraduate ITT *

Accelerated degree *

Sandwich year *

Erasmus and overseas study years *

Other *

Part-time course type: Additional information: Course fee:

First degree *

Foundation degree *

Foundation year / Year 0 *

HNC / HND *

CertHE / DipHE *

Postgraduate ITT *

Accelerated degree *

Sandwich year *

Erasmus and overseas study years *

Other *

Full-time and part-time course fee levels for 2019-20 entrants.

Please enter inflationary statement in the free text box below.

The Government has not yet announced fee caps for 2019-20. The College intends to increase its fees to the maximum level allowed by Government for

both new and continuing students. You should therefore expect the fees for your course to rise in line with any increases to the permitted maximum

announced by the Government.

* course type not listed.

2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23

T16a_01 Student successLow participation

neighbourhoods (LPN)

HESA T3b - No longer in HE after 1 year & in low

participation neighbourhoods (POLAR 3) (Young, full-

time, first degree entrants)

The College aims to ensure that its student support provision,

including financial, pastoral, academic and other support,

assists sufficiently those students who most need it. A

measure of success will be that the percentage of the College's

young entrants from LPNs no longer in higher education

following their year of entry is similar to the sector average

allowing for subject and entry qualifications, as calculated by

HESA.

No 2012-13

The College

was aligned to

its HESA

adjusted sector

benchmark on

the percentage

of young

entrants from

LPNs no longer

in higher

education

following their

year of entry.

College aligned

to its HESA

adjusted sector

benchmark on

the percentage

of young

entrants from

LPNs no longer

in higher

education

following their

year of entry.

College aligned

to its HESA

adjusted sector

benchmark on

the percentage

of young

entrants from

LPNs no longer

in higher

education

following their

year of entry.

College aligned

to its HESA

adjusted sector

benchmark on

the percentage

of young

entrants from

LPNs no longer

in higher

education

following their

year of entry.

College aligned

to its HESA

adjusted sector

benchmark on

the percentage

of young

entrants from

LPNs no longer

in higher

education

following their

year of entry.

College aligned

to its HESA

adjusted sector

benchmark on

the percentage

of young

entrants from

LPNs no longer

in higher

education

following their

year of entry.

T16a_02 Access Socio-economicOther statistic - Socio-economic (please give details in

the next column)

The College is developing further its programme of outreach

activities targeted specifically at disadvantaged students who

have demonstrated potential in those subjects required for entry

to the College. A measure of success will be an increase in the

percentage of Home new entrants who have benefited from

participation in our outreach programme.

No 2011-12 4.63% 7.15% 7.66% 7.80% 8.00% 9.00%

Last year, the College set a stretching target to increase the

percentage of Home new entrants who have benefited from

participation in its outreach programme to 7.80% by 2020-21. The

College is now extending this target further to 8.0% in 2021-22. The

percentages given represent broad progress towards the target and

are approximate.

T16a_03 Access Socio-economicOther statistic - Socio-economic (please give details in

the next column)

In line with its objective to raise aspirations to higher education

and science, the College aims to ensure that its outreach

strategy will be of benefit to the wider UK higher education

sector. A measure of success will be an increase in the

percentage of outreach participants with known destinations

who go on to study at a Russell Group university.

No 2012-13 47% 62% 65% 68% 70% 73%

The College has now subscribed to the HEAT service and is

expecting to receive the first tranche of data on the post-school

destinations of its outreach participants from HEAT in May 2017.

This will be a much more robust data source than those used

currently, and so the College is intending to revisit these targets

once the data has been received and set new targets that are

appropriately stretching.

T16a_04 Access Low income backgroundOther statistic - Low-income backgrounds (please give

details in the next column)

The College aims to advertise its bursary package in a timely,

clear and accessible manner to ensure that it encourages those

students who are most in need to apply to the College. A

measure of success will be the proportion of first year

respondents to the annual survey of bursary recipients who

knew about the College's bursary package before accepting an

offer of a place.

No 2014-15 79% 80% 80% 80% 80% 80%

The College aims to maintain the proportion of first year

respondents to the annual survey who knew about the College's

bursary package before accepting an offer of a place at at least

80% over the period to 2021-22.

T16a_05 Other/Multiple stages Low income backgroundOther statistic - Low-income backgrounds (please give

details in the next column)

The College aims to monitor the take up rate of bursaries to

ensure that all eligible students receive the bursary to which

they are entitled.

No 2014-15

All eligible

students

entering in

2014-15 were

contacted

directly by the

College, and all

of these took up

the bursary to

which they were

entitled.

Maintain 100%

take-up rate for

all eligible

students who

share

information on

their financial

circumstances

with the

College.

Maintain 100%

take-up rate for

all eligible

students who

share

information on

their financial

circumstances

with the

College.

Maintain 100%

take-up rate for

all eligible

students who

share

information on

their financial

circumstances

with the

College.

Maintain 100%

take-up rate for

all eligible

students who

share

information on

their financial

circumstances

with the

College.

Maintain 100%

take-up rate for

all eligible

students who

share

information on

their financial

circumstances

with the

College.

T16a_06 AccessOther (please give details in

Description column)

Other statistic - Other (please give details in the next

column)

As part of its undergraduate admission process, the College

aims to use additional appropriate measures, alongside

predicted A-level performance, when selecting the most able

candidates.

No 2014-15

Contextual data

automatically

provided to all

admissions

tutors.

Contextual data

automatically

provided to all

admissions

tutors.

Contextual data

automatically

provided to all

admissions

tutors.

Contextual data

automatically

provided to all

admissions

tutors.

Contextual data

automatically

provided to all

admissions

tutors.

Contextual data

automatically

provided to all

admissions

tutors.

The College's Widening Participation Admisssions Scheme

provides additional opportunity for admissions tutors to consider the

appropriateness of existing excellent applicants from disadvantaged

backgrounds. The College aims to continue to provide contextal

data to all admissions tutors.

Baseline year

(drop-down

menu)

Baseline data

Yearly milestones (numeric where possible, however you may use text)Commentary on your milestones/targets or textual description where

numerical description is not appropriate (500 characters maximum)Reference number

Stage of the lifecycle (drop-down

menu)

Main target type (drop-down

menu)Target type (drop-down menu)

Description

(500 characters maximum)

Is this a

collaborative

target? (drop-

down menu)

Table 8a - Statistical targets and milestones relating to your applicants, entrants or student body

2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23

T16b_01 Other/Multiple stagesOther (please give details in

Description column)Management targets

The College aims to invest at least 35% of additional fee

income in commitments within its Access Agreement.No 2013-14 35% 35% 35% 35% 35% 35%

T16b_02 AccessOther (please give details in

Description column)

Outreach / WP activity (other - please give details in the next

column)

The College aims to increase its knowledge of the financial

circumstances of its outreach participants and to use this so

that outreach activities are targeted appropriately at capable

disadvantaged groups.

No 2014-15

All participants

on cohort-

based

programmes

asked to

provide

information on

financial

circumstances.

All participants

on cohort-

based

programmes

asked to

provide

information on

financial

circumstances.

All participants

on cohort-

based

programmes

asked to

provide

information on

financial

circumstances.

All participants

on cohort-

based

programmes

asked to

provide

information on

financial

circumstances.

All participants

on cohort-

based

programmes

asked to

provide

information on

financial

circumstances.

All participants

on cohort-

based

programmes

asked to

provide

information on

financial

circumstances.

The College is continuing to develop its range of cohort-based

outreach programmes where contact with participants is sufficient

to request information on their financial circumstances. This

information will be requested for all participants on cohort-based

programmes.

T16b_03 AccessOther (please give details in

Description column)

Outreach / WP activity (other - please give details in the next

column)

The College aims to at least maintain the number of practical

science activity participant days delivered to pupils and

teachers from disadvantaged schools.

No 2013-14 >4000 4000 4000 4000 4000 4000

T16b_04 AccessOther (please give details in

Description column)

Outreach / WP activity (other - please give details in the next

column)

The College aims to increase the number of students studying

towards qualified teacher status through INSPIRE, the

College's STEM PGCE programme.

Yes 2012-13 10 13 14 16 17

The INSPIRE programme is run in collaboration with Canterbury

Christ Church University. The target for 2021-22 represents a

substantial increase on the baseline. Given the changes to the

future arrangements for initial teacher training, the College is

keeping this target under review and may need to revisit it in future

Access Agreements.

T16b_05 AccessOther (please give details in

Description column)

Outreach / WP activity (other - please give details in the next

column)

The College aims to increase its knowledge of the post-school

destinations of participants in its outreach programmes.No 2013-14

Post-school

destinations

data acquired

for participants

in the College's

cohort-based

outreach

programmes.

Post-school

destinations

data acquired

for participants

in the College's

cohort-based

outreach

programmes.

Post-school

destinations

data acquired

for participants

in the College's

cohort-based

outreach

programmes.

Post-school

destinations

data acquired

for participants

in the College's

cohort-based

outreach

programmes.

Post-school

destinations

data acquired

for participants

in the College's

cohort-based

outreach

programmes.

Post-school

destinations

data acquired

for participants

in the College's

cohort-based

outreach

programmes.

As above, the College has now subscribed to the HEAT service,

which is expected to provide a more robust data set on the post-

school destinations of outreach participants than the current survey.

The milestones for this target have been updated accordingly to

reflect the new data source.

T16b_06 AccessOther (please give details in

Description column)

Outreach / WP activity (other - please give details in the next

column)

The College aims to increase aspirations amongst

disadvantaged groups through targeted outreach activities.No 2013-14

Feedback on

university

aspirations

collected and

analysed.

Collect, analyse

and monitor

post-

programme

aspirations

compared to

pre-programme

aspirations.

Collect, analyse

and monitor

post-

programme

aspirations

compared to

pre-programme

aspirations.

Collect, analyse

and monitor

post-

programme

aspirations

compared to

pre-programme

aspirations.

Collect, analyse

and monitor

post-

programme

aspirations

compared to

pre-programme

aspirations.

Collect, analyse

and monitor

post-

programme

aspirations

compared to

pre-programme

aspirations.

The College intends to continue to collect and analyse feedback

from outreach participants on their university aspirations in order to

monitor whether its outreach programmes are achieving the aim of

increasing aspirations amongst disadvantaged groups.

T16b_07 AccessOther (please give details in

Description column)

Outreach / WP activity (other - please give details in the next

column)

The College aims to capture information on the protected

characteristics of outreach participants.No 2013-14

Information on

the protected

characteristics

of outreach

participants

collected and

analysed.

Information on

the protected

characteristics

of outreach

participants

collected and

analysed.

Information on

the protected

characteristics

of outreach

participants

collected and

analysed.

Information on

the protected

characteristics

of outreach

participants

collected and

analysed.

Information on

the protected

characteristics

of outreach

participants

collected and

analysed.

Information on

the protected

characteristics

of outreach

participants

collected and

analysed.

The College will continue to collect data on the gender, disability

and ethnicity of outreach participants and analyse this for

monitoring and evaluation purposes.

T16b_08 AccessOther (please give details in

Description column)

Outreach / WP activity (other - please give details in the next

column)

The proportion of participants in the College's Sutton Scholars

programme choosing to study Mathematics at A-level will be

higher than the national average for state-funded schools. (Note

that until the first cohort has progressed to Year 12 in 2021-22,

the College aims to recruit at least 50 participants onto this

programme in each cohort.)

No 2015-16 0 150 150 150 150 150

The Sutton Scholars programme, which focuses on computer

coding, will start in the 2016-17 academic year and will take a

cohort of students from mid-way through Year 7 up to the end of

Year 9. As this is a new programme and as the first cohort of

participants will not reach Year 12 until 2021-22, no data will be

available on this target until 2021-22. Interim targets have therefore

been included for the intervening years relating to the total number

of participants on the programme in each academic year.

T16b_09 Access Attainment raisingOutreach / WP activity (other - please give details in the next

column)

The proportion of disadvantaged participants on track for an A

undertaking the College's #mA*ths programme who go on to

achieve A* in Mathematics A-level will increase

No 2015-16 43%

No data -

Students in

Year 12

46% 50% 54%

The baseline figure relates to WP offer holders at the College from

2015-16 admissions data. The College's ambition is for the number

of these students on the programme each year to rise from 100 to

150 by 2021-22.

Baseline year Baseline data

Yearly milestones (numeric where possible, however you may use text)Commentary on your milestones/targets or textual description where

numerical description is not appropriate (500 characters maximum)

Table 8b - Other milestones and targets.

Reference Number Select stage of the lifecycleMain target type (drop-down

menu)Target type (drop-down menu)

Description

(500 characters maximum)

Is this a

collaborative

target?